BALTIMORE – It was a game decided in an almost predictable fashion.

The Baltimore Ravens lived up to their reputation. They were intense, focused and came out looking to put big hits on the opposition.

Then there were the Raiders.

They followed the script that has made them one of the NFL's worst teams for more than six seasons.

They had no fire, no fight and made a few of their signature blunders en route to a 29-10 loss to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

This was supposed to be a game where the Raiders showed they could answer the challenge of the Ravens, who look to intimidate opponents.

The Raiders, instead, spotted Baltimore a 19-0 halftime lead after the Ravens showcased their dominant defense as Oakland displayed its pitiful offense.

"In the first half, we just got our tails whipped on the line of scrimmage – on both sides of the ball," said interim head coach Tom Cable. "And there's really no other way to put it. That's the bottom line."

After being shut out in the first half for the second time in seven games, the Raiders said they were proud of the fight they showed in the second half by pulling within 22-10 in the third quarter.

But why did the Raiders fail to play well in the first half? Nobody in the visitor's locker room had an answer.

The offense missed running back Darren McFadden, who was scratched because of a lingering toe injury. Defensive end Derrick Burgess, arguably the Raiders' most intense defender, missed his third consecutive game because of a triceps injury.

Still, the injuries didn't explain the noticeable lack of desire at the start of the game.

"In this league, you've got to play all 60 minutes," said safety Gibril Wilson.

Especially when the first 30 minutes are especially bad. Sunday, that included 35 yards of offense in 22 plays for the Raiders.

The defense had given up 125 rushing yards and special teams had two blunders. Johnnie Lee Higgins caught a kickoff and ran out of bounds – at the Raiders' 2-yard line – and Ravens backup returner Jim Leonhard returned a punt 46 yards to set up a touchdown.

Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell had already been sacked twice, once for a safety, and had thrown an interception against a Ravens secondary that started two backup cornerbacks.

And when things looked as if they would finish well for the Raiders, they inevitably didn't.

The only positive – or so it seemed – about Russell's interception was it put the Ravens at their own 3-yard line. A couple of penalties put the ball inside the Ravens' 1.

But the Raiders did nothing with that field position.

The Ravens scored on a 70-yard touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Joe Flacco to wide receiver Demetrius Williams, who benefited from a blown coverage assignment and caught the ball without a Raider in the vicinity.

"You never get that open in the NFL," Williams said. "It's just something that's just not heard of."

By the time Russell found his receivers, it was the third quarter and the game had been decided.

After passing for 36 yards in the first half, Russell finished with 228 passing yards, but completed only 15 of 33 passes, to go with a touchdown pass to fullback Justin Griffith.

"As a team I thought we fought back hard," Russell said. "We put points back on the board and just kept fighting. But time ran out for us, you know? I wish things had gone better for us in the first half. But it didn't."

So the Raiders were left to cling to the few bright spots after halftime and the continued realization they aren't good enough to start poorly and pull out a win.

"We didn't come out and handle business," said defensive end Jay Richardson. "We didn't come out and do what we said we were going to do. We got it going a little bit in the second half, but it was a little too late. We just got our butts kicked the first half, simple as that."

And that made the outcome easy to figure.

Read Jason Jones' Raiders blog at www.sacbee.com/raidersblog.